Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Have a couple of questions regarding pond renovation.....

Hey everyone,

I have had our farm for almost 7 months now and I am growing to love it more each and every time I am out there. We have 4 ponds on our place with the largest pond probably in the 3/4 acre range. I was told that it is around 50 years old and it is heavily silted in. The majority of the pond is less than 2' deep all the way across it. I think that the pond is probably 120' wide or so by maybe 300'. I am starting to think that I am going to want to renovate this pond next year. I have a couple of options and was wondering if I could get some input on them.

First off I am an experienced operator of backhoe, trackhoe, bulldozer, and farm tractors. I have a 416b extendahe 4wd backhoe, a cat e21 trackhoe, d4 dozer, and a kubota 50hp tractor with loader and lots of implements at my disposal. I am thinking about pumping out my pond(not disrupting the integrity of the damn) and trying to take the pond down with the equipment I have. Then go and take my equipment to remove what soil I can.

The other option is to hire someone to come in and take the water down(either by busting the damn or pumping) and then having them take the silt/muck out and repairing the levee. Or hire someone to come in with a large trachoe and take the muck out either with the water still in the pond or out.

I imagine that I probably am looking at an average soil level of 4-5' that will need to be excavated. The biggest problem with me doing it myself is that I do not have anyone else that I can have help me. So basically all of the work bill be falling on myself. I would also only be able to work on this during the weekends for the most part. I am not opposed to hire it out if I can get it done for the $7-8k range. I have an area that I could put the spoils that is probably 125 yards away so nothing would have to be trucked out.

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Lusk says that it is much less expensive to raise the dam than deepen the hole. Not much value in a 2 ft. deep pond.

If I were going to do it myself, I would probably break the dam. I don't really like that idea but not doing it might be a drought breaker.

I understand about only having weekends and not having help. And, of course, not being able to be there every weekend.

leeinmemphis,

The decision on DIY vs "outsourcing" depends on a lot of variables including time, money, and equipment. This time of year is generally wet and heading towards really wet conditions. If you are in a hurry, then outsourcing is probably the best choice.

You have a lot of material to move. With low sun angles and wet conditions for the next few months, that material will not dry out sufficiently for you to remove it with your D4. Late next summer will be the earliest time you can move it with your dozer, IMO.

A track-hoe offers an efficient timely solution. I'm not familiar with the size of your hoe and the reach and that would be a determining factor in your decision. Assuming it is suitable for the work, knocking out a hole in the dam and then removing the material is probably the best approach. Pumping is an option, but with your equipment, it would be very easy to just take out a small slice in the dam and when finished repair it with good well packed clay.

A couple of other options include, as DD mentioned, raising the dam and/or creating an in-place island of muck ringed with clay to hold it in place. I've created such islands in two ponds that I have renovated, but didn't have the 5 feet of muck you mention. That is a lot of material.

Regardless of your choice, I think I would use this time to also remove the trees that appear to be on the dam. They add to the accumulation of muck and also add risk to the integrity of your dam. Good luck!

Hey Lee ML finished with what was going to be my point. If your standing on the dam the tree to the left and all others need to be removed. From far shore it seems you can raise the level quite a bit without losing the lake onto other land. Also why 4-5 ft. of muck 4 feet deep is good if you do not think you will have future sediment issues. Also I guess you know 90% of work will be just in the upper portion where water enters unless it is 4 feet deep at the dam also. I think your budget number is about right if dump site for spoil is close. good luck

Lee what about a siphon to get rid of the water. With only a few acre feet of water that should go fast with a 6 inch siphon. Plus as it goes down you can trackhoe some material out.

thanks for the information everyone. I forgot to mention that I am not in any huge hurry. In all reality I'ld prefer to wait until after deer season(jan 15th) to start so it'll likely have to wait until spring/summer to start. I don't mind hard work at all but I think this project is a little more than I can probably successfully bite off by myself. I have contacted a dirt contractor in the area(actually built the pond at my dads farm 4-5 years ago) and he is going to come look at it this weekend to give me an idea of what it'll run. Construction has slowed some in our area and it may be a good time to get a decent quote on some work. If I can get him to do what I want for probably $7-8k then I am likely to just go on ahead and tell him to put me on the list. I was already planning on re-doing the levee to get rid of the trees(I was standing on the end of the levee where this pic was taken) and I want to try to get the edges down probably around 3' because this pond has been growing some weeds i think was called something like "watershed" but don't quote me on that name.

ultimately I just want some place for me to take my kids to fish and catch a few decent bass. I just don't think I can do it with what I have now. So I just have to figure out if it is worth it for me to do it myself or to have it done. With everything I've done this past year and still have to do I imagine I will probably try to get this pond renovated by them. The other ponds are MUCH smaller and I can easily do them by myself later on when time allows.

This year i have taken down several buildings on the property. Burned down an old farmhouse and the fire got away from me and i received 2nd and 3rd degree burns on 45% of my right arm. then I put in a small house trailer on the place, electricity, septic, well, renovated the barn, spread 125tons of gravel, put out 4 food plots, put a 5' culvert in a ditch that runs water year round. so i don't know if I really have the pond renovation in me. I'm getting a little tired of all the work and am looking forward to enjoying it a little.

I'm with Dave on this one. If the location is suitable raising the dam is a good choice. You'll get more surface area for prob. the same cost.
On DD1's second point breaking the dam would be a must for me. Keeping water out while the work is going on could save money & time. Like he suggests just as sure as you don't Murphy will bring on a monsoon!

thanks for the info everyone. I talked to a few people about it and I thinking that I may go on ahead and just bust the levee myself. I can also just push the silt over the levee and let it sit on the back side of the damn if I decide to do that. I just know that I have a spot a couple hundred yards away that would probably handle most/if not all of the spoils from. My main concern with busting the levee is repairing it well enough to be able to hold the water. I am assuming using a sheeps foot/tamp would adequately pack the dirt back in place but I just want to make sure if I do all this work that the damn will hold water. That sure would be disappointing to have it refill/stock fish and then the damn blow itself out.

btw.....I have 4 other ponds on the place and I don't think that they have any fish in them. When I bust the levee what should I do with the fish in it? I know it has good sized bream in it but the bass are kind of small. Should I try to save a few of these fish to put in some of the other ponds or should I just plan on trying to get a few nets and put what fish I can on ice then clean them.

I would do some of each. Ice and eat the big fish and catch a bunch of the smaller BG and transplant them. If you could put 100-200 2-4in. BG in some small empty ponds you would have a good start on some forage.

thanks. I am going to meet a dirt contractor up there on Saturday. Depending on what he says I will probably make a decision on whether to do it myself or not. I am probably going to try to do it by myself in the late spring/early summer and just take a few days to a week off of work to get it done.